Free Republic

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday the Senate will consider a rescue package to ease Puerto Rico’s financial crisis before the U.S. territory’s $2 billion payment to creditors is due July 1. The House overwhelmingly passed legislation to create a new control board and restructure some of Puerto Rico’s $70 billion debt last week. The Senate is expected to take up the same bill “sometime before the end of the month,” McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters Tuesday. Puerto Rico has already missed several payments to creditors while a lengthy recession has crippled commerce, sparked unemployment and driven hundreds of thousands of...

The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, would not rule out the possibility of rescinding his endorsement of Donald J. Trump’s presidential bid down the road, and he described the candidate as lacking knowledge in a number of areas in an interview released on Friday. The comments from Mr. McConnell, in an interview with the “Masters in Politics” podcast on Bloomberg Politics, came as Republicans down the ballot continue to face questions about Mr. Trump’s criticism of the Indiana-born federal judge overseeing a case against Trump University as “Mexican.” Mr. McConnell has been pointed in his criticism of those remarks. It...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed again Friday that the Senate will not confirm President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, this year. “Let me say this once more, and let me say it clearly: Barack Obama will not get a Supreme Court Justice in the 11th hour of his presidency on the way out the door,” McConnell said to loud applause at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans controlling the Senate are abandoning an effort to use their power over the federal purse strings to block implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The more pragmatic approach with a huge $164 billion spending measure reflects a hope by top Republicans like Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to remove veto bait from must-pass spending bills in hopes of advancing them more easily. President Barack Obama has already vetoed separate legislation aimed at repealing the law, and he has easily kept language to “defund Obamacare” out of the final versions of annual funding bills.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell takes pride in his reputation as a great compromiser. But the Republican leader won’t concede on one point: He refuses to let conservatives fight the White House for lower spending levels. McConnell, R-Ky., outlined his political roadmap for government spending on Tuesday, sketching out the routes he sees available: an omnibus package, individual appropriations bills, or a government shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in an interview this week that it's an "honest answer" to say that a general election match-up between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton represents picking the lesser of two evils. "We know for sure we have two very, very unpopular candidates.

Republicans controlling the Senate are abandoning an effort to use their power over the federal purse strings to block implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The more pragmatic approach with a huge $164 billion spending measure reflects a hope by top Republicans like Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to remove veto bait from must-pass spending bills in hopes of advancing them more easily. …

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is defending Trump University Judge Gonzalo Curiel from Donald Trump’s recent criticism. In particular, Trump has expressed concern that Curiel is biased against him because of Trump’s pledge to enforce U.S. immigration law, build a wall along the Southern border, and keep American jobs from going to Mexico.

On Thursday night Trump supporters were assaulted, spit on, beaten, cold-cocked, egged, chased, tackled and bloodied as they left the San Jose Trump rally by mobs of far left, Mexican nationalist, Socialist, SEIU and anarchist thugs. Trump supporters were left bloodied and beaten in the street. The San Jose police chief admitted he held back from interfering when the conservatives were beat down in the streets. Video released on Monday shows street thugs terrorizing and beating Hispanic Trump supporters. ... Speaker Paul Ryan has posted over 50 tweets since Friday morning. Not once did he mention the Republican beatdown. Senate...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is growing increasingly critical of Donald Trump, warning him to lay off GOP officials and drop his penchant for “name calling.” McConnell, who endorsed Trump, has been granting a steady stream of interviews to create buzz for his new book “The Long Game.” In the process, he’s leveled some sharp criticism at his party’s presumptive nominee. Asked about Trump’s tendency to lash out at other Republicans, McConnell retorted, it “ought to stop.” "I don't like that,” he told a Baltimore radio station. “I don't think it adds any value whatsoever to the discourse. And...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted in a Thursday interview he is worried Donald Trump could push Latinos away from the Republican Party. McConnell compared it to the impact Barry Goldwater’s vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did with African-American voters. …

Before Ted Cruz framed his presidential campaign as a crusade against the Washington “cartel,” he engaged in a series of skirmishes with fellow Republicans, in particular Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky....

And, though many haven’t noticed yet, the bipartisan cooperation has been good for our politics. A standard criticism of this approach is that it elevates process over policy or, worse, that it amounts to a kind of ideological surrender by Republicans. But if you want to be a U.S. senator, you need to be at peace with imperfect outcomes. The answer to Barack Obama and the left is not to rail against one’s fellow conservatives. It may turn out that Americans on the left and right don’t want the two parties to work together in an effort to reach consensus...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday responded to Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol's weekend assertion that he would put forward a strong third-party candidate to compete with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. "Well, I hope he's not successful, because that will help elect Hillary Clinton to the presidency," McConnell told Business Insider in an interview that centered on his newly released memoir, "The Long Game." "It's hard to run as an independent and be successful. You could conceivably take votes away from a right-of-center nominee and make it more likely that a liberal gets elected

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that while presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is “a phenomenon” and political outsider, he has earned the right to the GOP nomination and the party’s support. “I think Donald Trump is a phenomenon. I don’t believe Donald Trump is going to change the Republican Party in a fundamental way. He appeals to a lot of voters, he’ll be the nominee. I don’t have any problem supporting him,” McConnell said. McConnell said Trump is helping the party reach out to voters who “have not lately voted for Republicans.” That will...

Sen. Marco Rubio is facing intense pressure to run for re-election to his Florida Senate seat, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell taking the lead in a campaign to get him to reconsider his plans to retire. Republicans fear that if Rubio doesn’t run for a second term they could lose his seat. And if Republicans lose Florida they increase their odds of losing their Senate majority altogether. […] At least one Republican, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, subsequently took the unusual step of issuing a public statement calling Rubio a “very valuable member of the Senate” and disclosing that...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says he does’t anticipate “going back to the draft,” but nevertheless, he thinks “it would be appropriate” for young women to register with the Selective Service. A reporter asked McConnell on Tuesday if he anticipates a separate Senate vote on an amendment requiring women to register for the draft. The amendment is attached to the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). […] Should women be “required to register?” the reporter asked. “I’m not sure. Required, I suppose. We’ll see. What’s in the bill? Required?” the Senate leader asked. …

Trump will meet with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan at 9am this morning. All the networks will be covering live remarks made by both men following the meeting. The URL above links to the various video postings on this meeting thus far, (amazing how much coverage all ready), so Freepers will need to find their own source, (FOX, NBC, ABC, CNN, etc). Please post a good live thread when it surfaces here, and also commentary. As always, it will be interesting how our take here on Free Republic will be.

Heard a talking head on Fox talking about Trump and Ryan trying to come to terms over the Ryan/McConnell legislative agenda. Does anyone have a list of the legislative goals of the Ryan/McConnell legislative agenda?

Cameron Lancaster Senate Republicans blocked a slate of President Obama's lower court nominees Tuesday. Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono (Hawaii),Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Ben Cardin (Md.) asked for consent four times to bring up a total of 11 judicial nominations Tuesday, arguing that the pace of confirmation votes has created a backlog. "The judicial confirmation process has been at a crawl for years. Now it has come to a functional standstill," said Schumer, who is expected to be the next Senate Democratic leader. The Senate's top Republicans teamed up to block the Democratic efforts. Majority LeaderMitch McConnell objected to requests...